Press Statement                                                                                                                 Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez
20 January 2004                                                                                                                                 Secretary General

Free Zenaida Llesis now! Free all Political Prisoners!

Promises were made to be broken at EDSA 2

At the break of dawn today, Zenaida Llesis, a woman political prisoner arrested in August 5, 2002 will start her hungerstrike at the Bukidnon Provincial Hospital where she and her baby daughter Gabriela have been incarcerated for almost a year now. Local courts have denied moves for her release on humanitarian grounds, denying her lawyers motion to dismiss the charges against her.

Zenaida, accused of being a rebel and charged with murder is only one among three nursing mothers in detention, 13 women political prisoners and 310 political offenders nationwide. She is also one among those who have suffered mental and physical torture at the hands of their captors and are denied their basic rights.

Zenaida was 11 weeks pregnant upon her arrest, suffered difficult pregnancy and threatened abortion before giving birth to a baby girl in jail. The baby, named Gabriela, has a hole in her heart and a tumor on her liver.

KARAPATAN, the Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights laments the fact that despite President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's promise of releasing all political prisoners, she not only neglected 22 others in the release list but, has added 214 more political prisoners within her term alone.

President Arroyo's anti-people policies have not spared the marginalized majority defending their rights. The repression suffered from previous administrations, have not only continued but have intensified and worsened today.

KARAPATAN further lambasts the prevailing practice of criminalizing political offenses, thereby hiding political prisoners in a mantel of a so-called democracy.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have not only forgotten her promise in Edsa 2 but have totally turned her back to it, with her current ambitions for 2004. She has nothing to expect from the people. She is not their choice for 2004.

JUNK GMA!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!